Making wedges same length as 8/9 iron?

[Roenie]

I'm supposed to use longer than standard length irons, but I don't see the point in making them all longer and suffering the accuracy concequences with the mid and long irons. Only the 9 iron and wedges tend to be uncomfortably short for me, so I have an idea...

What if I use longer shafts (or extensions) in the 9 iron, PW, GW, and SW so that they all match the 8 iron in length, then add some loft to each of them, so that they knock the ball the same distance as they did before? ( If the lofts aren't  adjusted then there will be a large distance gap between the 8 and 9 irons. )

Good idea, or bad idea?

Apparently, typically a 9 iron is 1/2" shorter than the 8 iron, and the PW is 0.5" shorter again, and sometimes SW is another 0.25" shorter. Let's say normally I would have a 9 iron at 42 degrees (8 being at 38), PW at 47, then two more wedges at 52 and 58.

What would the new lofts have to be with the shafts as long as the 8 iron, and would they be playable?

Edited June 23, 2016 by Roenie

[Roenie]

9 iron gets extended by 1/2"
PW gets extended by 1"
SW (and GW) extended by 1 or 1.25"

How many degrees of added loft to keep the same gapping between 8 and 9 iron and 9-PW-SW?

Edited June 23, 2016 by Roenie

[SavvySwede]

1 hour ago, Roenie said:

9 iron gets extended by 1/2"
PW gets extended by 1"
SW (and GW) extended by 1 or 1.25"

How many degrees of added loft to keep the same gapping between 8 and 9 iron and 9-PW-SW?

Unfortunately that is something you would need to do by trial and error. Loft is only one variable and different models of irons Will be effected differently. 

[WUTiger]

Here are a couple of links to golf club designer Ralph Maltby and his take on fitting wedges. He discusses shaft length options in both:

Properly fitting wedges

 

16 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

Unfortunately that is something you would need to do by trial and error. Loft is only one variable and different models of irons Will be effected differently. 

One thing you need to do is determine the yardage gap you want between different wedges. Going 4* or 6* loft difference between wedges is no guarantee you'll get equal spacing. At a Vokey fitting I had, it seemed like 48*, 54* and 58* gave me the best gaps. A 60* went too high, and fell well short of the 54*.

Most club manufacturers have 1/4" shaft length increments between different categories of wedges. Mizuno and Tour Edge make all their specialty wedges the same length.

[inthehole]

interesting - wedges always seem too short to me too - feel like I need to sway downward to hit them.     Now I'm going to think about extending them next time I regrip ...

[Roenie]

I've just found and ordered the irons I wanted in great condition, good shafts but they are standard length.

Following the idea of this thread (let's call this plan A), I could add 0.5" to my 9 iron, 0.75" to my PW+AW, and 1" to my SW making their shafts just as long as the 8 iron's. Then I have to add loft to each of them so that they send the ball their original distances. This seems necessary to avoid a large gap between the 8 and 9 iron. This would require finding a clubfitter with a launch monitor and paying for the services. The wedges will have a rather high ball flight and of course less roll. I'm guestimating my SW will end up around 62 degrees, GW 56, PW 50, 9 iron 44 deg (the 8 iron is 38), remembering that the loft is the only differentiating factor.

Plan B:
Won't it be easier to extend the whole set by 1" (that's how much longer I need my shortest wedge to be), and just leave my 4 iron out of the bag? (The extended 5 iron will probably do 4 iron duty). My shortest wedge (SW) will play longer than it did before. (I'm not sure if that's a problem.)

What do you think? Do you see any benefits going with plan B / A?

Edited July 10, 2016 by Roenie

[Roenie]

11 minutes ago, Roenie said:

Following the idea of this thread (let's call this plan A), I could add 0.5" to my 9 iron, 0.75" to my PW+AW

GW

[Roenie]

@ Plan B: a LW can be added if SW plays too long, because getting rid of the longest iron leaves an empty spot in the bag. (sorry, can't edit previous post after a certain amount of minutes).

There may be other considerations I don't know about.

Edited July 10, 2016 by Roenie

[Piz]

Methinks the community requires more information than has, thus far, been provided.  How is it that you are "supposed" to use longer irons?  How much experience do you have?  What, specifically, is problematical about "standard" length clubs?  Why are you less concerned about accuracy in the scoring clubs than you are in the long irons?  Until these and other related questions are addressed; it simply is not possible to reply to your inquiry.  I'd like to respond; but I've no idea where to begin.

 

[Roenie]

Oh it's that guy. The one that resorts to questioning the question and the one asking the question. Please find another thread with another thread creator to bother. The question in post #6 is clear enough.

I particularly like the assumption that I am "less concerned about accuracy in the scoring clubs than in the long irons". If they're uncomfortably short, they're uncomfortably short, and accuracy suffers because of it. Simple as. The fact that I don't have thousands of posts on these forums does not mean I don't understand posture and swing mechanics. Have a nice day.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Roenie

[Piz]

You are talking about cranking as much as 6 degrees of loft into some of these clubs.  That is extreme.  That is not practical.  The easiest way to make a 7 an inch longer is to hit a 5 instead.  I'm not trying to give you a difficult time.  I am a club maker and what you are asking is an interesting challenge; but there are limits.  Sorry to have bothered you.

[b101]

1 hour ago, Roenie said:

Oh it's that guy. The one that resorts to questioning the question and the one asking the question. Please find another thread with another thread creator to bother. The question in post #6 is clear enough.

I particularly like the assumption that I am "less concerned about accuracy in the scoring clubs than in the long irons". If they're uncomfortably short, they're uncomfortably short, and accuracy suffers because of it. Simple as. The fact that I don't have thousands of posts on these forums does not mean I don't understand posture and swing mechanics. Have a nice day.

To be honest, to immediately have a go at the one person who's just asked for a bit more information so that they can help you seems like you're that guy. I don't think @Piz was being unhelpful, rather trying to understand your motivation and reasoning as changing all of the lengths of your clubs is quite a drastic solution when there may well be an easier one. For what it's worth, I'd also be interested to know why and I don't think post #6 covers it. Could well be that you're too hunched over, have the ball too far away from you etc - there's a load of possible reasons for your discomfort, but it's hard to know what they might be. If it happens to be that you're 7 feet tall, that would explain it, but you haven't said.

We'd like to help - generally, it's a good forum for that - but it wouldn't hurt to be a little less aggressive straight off the bat. Sorry if you disagree, but it'd be nice to see you actually get the answers you want.

[Roenie]

7 hours ago, Piz said:

You are talking about cranking as much as 6 degrees of loft into some of these clubs.  That is extreme.  That is not practical.

I'm not a clubfitter, but actually I expect 3 degrees is likely to be enough, as I've read that the loft affects distance much more than length.

It would probably be something like this:
9I goes from 42 to 44 deg. of loft. (and +.5")
PW from 47 to 50 (and +.75")
GW from 51.5 to 54.5. (and +.75")

As said before this will require a reasonable amount of (launch monitor) work to get them dialed in for distance gapping but I guess it's still better than extending all the clubs and leaving the long iron (4) at home, because that would mean my 5-8 would have longer shafts than they strictly require.

There is nothing wrong with my setup in itself, my teaching pro would confirm that, standard clubs are just slightly short for me but it's only a problem with the shortest clubs. I am 6' 1" and my wrist-to-floor is 37.75". My hamstrings are extremely short (always have been) hence bending over for the SW/PW hurts my lower back. The tension limits my motion. Raising my chest (and early extending) is the natural result to relieve the tension, causing me to skull the ball every now and then: whenerver I'm not actively trying to prevent a skulled ball. It's one swing thought that's always on my mind with the wedges and one I could do without.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Roenie

[Tee2Trees]

I think it's a good idea and something I've wanted to try myself in the past.  My only recommendation is if you want to carry anything higher than 56 degrees then you should keep the lob wedge at stock length and refrain from using it on full shots.  This club is more useful and important for greenside work.

[Roenie]

Thanks. Can always choke down on it, right? Best of both worlds...when not choking down there's a smaller gap between LW and the next wedge, for those slightly longer shots. +when I do need a bigger swing I can be more comfortable, which also translates to accuracy.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Roenie

[JxQx]

Just as a forewarning adding length to the clubs will change the stiffness of the shaft, especially at the lengths you are talking about. I think it's something like every 1/2" added is about half a stiffness rating, so if it was an x-stiff it would turn into a stiff+. It will also change the swing weight a bit. Just something to keep in mind.

Edited July 19, 2016 by JxQx

[Roenie]

Not really the case when using extensions, is it? Since you're doubling up on material where the extension is inserted, effectively making that section stiffer and most of the extension will be on the inside of the existing shaft.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Roenie

[Tee2Trees]

Well not exactly.  Just by virtue of the longer lever you will increase the SW and soften the flex.  But by no means do you need to get caught up in the "specs" of the club and make changes based on that alone.  You will most likely be able to adapt to anything with practice.